An honest description of one family's struggle with a life threatening illness...

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

What If?

Written By: Donna White

What if you were told you have a terminal illness today?

What if you were told you only had 3-5 years to live?

What if you lived a very active life and woke up one morning... unable to get out of bed and every breath you took was a cough?

What if you spent six days in the hospital and left having to wear
oxygen 24/7 -for the rest of your life?

What if you knew your lungs were basically turning into concrete
spreading like a cancer does from the lower lung lobes, up?

What if you had Grandchildren that you would not get to
see grow up?

What if- you saw the tears falling from the eyes of your children,
husband, wife, friend, Mother, Father; as they watched you become
weaker and knowing how helpless they felt watching someone they loved,
and treasured, fighting for every breath they took?

What if you knew what it was like for someone not to be able to
take their own shower alone anymore?

What if you knew what it was like to not be able to walk from one
end of your home to other without feeling you could not get enough air
to breathe?

What if you became close to a group of people struggling to breathe
and watched as member after member died from a devastating disease?

What if you knew IPF affects approximately 200,000 Americans and an
estimated 40,000 Americans pass away from IPF each year?Would you want to help spread awareness about a devastating disease
that is taking lives in order to find a cure?

When our family learned that my 49 year old husband had Pulmonary Fibrosis, we didn't even know what it was or what it meant. Since his diagnosis, we have learned that it is a serious and progressive disease which consists of the scarring of the lungs.

There is no definitive cause and no definitive cure.

It took my husband's life and the lives of countless friends that were made through learning about the disease.

This blog is meant to journal our personal experience and to help raise awareness about Pulmonary Fibrosis.